1. Field of the Invention
The field relates to an organic light emitting display, and more particularly, to an organic light emitting display that can prevent a pixel and a driver included in the organic light emitting display from being damaged due to electrostatic discharge.
2. Description of the Related Technology
An organic light emitting display is a kind of flat panel display and uses an organic light emitting diode (OLED) which emits light by recombination of electrons supplied from a cathode with holes supplied from an anode. The organic light emitting display has advantageous aspects of being thin, having a wide viewing angle, and having a short response time.
Methods for driving the organic light emitting display include a passive matrix method and an active matrix method. The passive matrix method is a method that selects and drives a line where an anode and a cathode intersect at right angles. On the other hand, the active matrix method is a method that realizes an image by supplying an organic light emitting diode (OLED) with a driving current corresponding to a data signal. The organic light emitting diode (OLED) uses a thin film transistor (TFT) formed on each pixel. The active matrix method has an advantageous aspect that it can exhibit more stable brightness and can consume less power than the passive matrix method, and thus it can be applied to large and high-resolution displays.
A conventional organic light emitting display comprises a pixel area including a pixel matrix and a non-pixel area including a power supply and a driver for driving the pixel. The pixel of the pixel area includes a thin film transistor and an organic light emitting diode for a driving operation or a switching operation. The pixel area and the non-pixel area are electrically coupled with each other through a plurality of lines.
The conventional organic light emitting display is manufactured by forming a thin film transistor, forming an organic light emitting diode, encapsulating, and packaging. During such manufacturing steps, static electricity can be generated in the organic light emitting display by internal environmental factors or by external environmental factors. The static electricity can be generated during nearly all manufacturing processes for manufacturing the organic light emitting display including a deposition process, an etching process, etc. Furthermore, the static electricity can also be generated by an external environmental factor during displaying an image on the organic light emitting display.
According to the conventional light emitting display, a problem is that an internal circuit is damaged due to electrostatic discharge (ESD) that occurs during the above-mentioned or other manufacturing steps or by an external environmental factor.